


Iron Fists and A Blue Heart

by Kakushigo



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: I took a hammer to your comic, M/M, Please note, and sometimes it survived, but I promise they get better, but if you know comics, but they also get better, no knowledge of comics needed, there are character deaths, there's also character injuries, you will cringe at my timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-10
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-20 14:01:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8251706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kakushigo/pseuds/Kakushigo
Summary: Steve Rogers died on the courthouse steps and Bucky Barnes went after Tony Stark to get his revenge.  Something stayed his hand though and changed the history of the world.  For the better or the worse is yet to be seen.





	1. Funeral of Kings

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Major Character Deaths (They get better), Major Character Injuries (again, they get better), Minor Character Deaths (they don’t get better)  
> A/N: It’s sort of an AU of Civil War: 2015, but...I took a hammer to the timeline.

His tail becomes obvious after the third day.  Tony had a faint idea before, nothing more the a vague sense of unease, but he catches a glimpse of his follower and knows his days are numbered.  Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier- world’s deadliest assassin (reformed), Steve’s best friend- and he obviously blames Tony for Steve’s death.  And well, Tony can’t fault him for that.  So he ignores the man and patiently waits for him to strike.  None of SHIELD seem to notice his shadow and he makes a special note to increase their general awareness of situations.  More training for them and Tony doesn’t care how much they grumble.  Bucky might be the former Winter Soldier and excel at not being found, but still, someone should’ve noticed.  Unless they all want him dead that much.  

Days turn into weeks and still Tony has a shadow on his tail, but so far Bucky hasn’t made his move.  Tony wonders what is taking him so long.  He keeps an eye on Bucky then, slightly worried that this might be a bigger plot.  Tony doesn't mind Bucky taking him out, but taking out others was unacceptable.  They didn't have anything to do with Steve's death after all.

It's four months after Steve's death (Tony thinks there might be morbid as using that as a focal point on his internal calendar-but he just doesn't care anymore) and there's another assassin after him.  This doesn't bother Tony, lots of people want to kill him.  He has his armor, he can deal with the assassin since they were just paid to take him out.  Except before he even calls the armor to him, Bucky is there in front of Tony.  He takes the assassin down quickly and efficiently.

If Tony were a greater man, he might've been happy to leave it at that.  Instead he laughs.  "Couldn't let anyone else take your kill, could you?"

Bucky turns around, blue eyes focusing on Tony.  Tony almost takes a step back, but instead holds his ground.  Bucky moves towards Tony, long loping strides and cages him in against the deck.  Up close, Bucky is a lot more terrifying.  Well, he supposes, this is it.  At least he had those four months.  It was certainly four more months then he was ever expecting to have.  It was also four more months then he wanted to live.  

Except Bucky doesn't take a knife or gun out.  Just stands there, a few inches shorter than Tony and stares.  There a few minutes of silence then Bucky growls, "You can fix me, right?"

Tony was expecting a threat at the very least, so it takes his brain a second to catch up with what Bucky said.  "Fix you?"  He asks, surprised.  That’s not how this is supposed to go.

Bucky nods, unmoving.  "Yeah, might've got my memories back but still got trigger words.  I want them gone."  It’s a fact that is simply stated and to the point.  Bucky refuses to waste words on it.

"I'll see what I can do."  Tony promises immediately.  He doesn’t think.  The letter asked Tony to take care of Bucky, so that’s what Tony will do.  He can follow Steve’s last orders, he really can.  "I also-"

Bucky interrupts, "Got Steve's letter, I know.  I read it.  Sorry, but I’m not interested in the shield.  Keep it nice and safe though, you never know who's gonna wanna take a grab at it."  Tony wonders how he missed Bucky going through his personal effects.  Hell, he’d noticed his tail but somehow failed to register the fact Bucky had read Steve’s letter at sometime.  

"Okay, if you aren't gonna kill me, then will you move?  This is not the most comfortable position."  Wedged between a desk and a reformed master assassin- stuff like this wasn't supposed to happen to him.

"I'm not registering."  Bucky continues, like he hasn't heard Tony.  "I can't, I won't."  Not until he knew who he was.  His memories were of being the Winter Soldier and of being Bucky, 17 year old sniper.  He didn't want to be any of those people again.  "Try to make me-"

"And you'll kill me.  Got it."  Tony cuts him off, agitated. Death threats were something he was familiar with, doesn’t mean he wants to hear them though.

"No, not going to kill you.  Steve- he was wrong.  About a lot of things.  And I...I-"  he can't finish that thought, never mind that sentence.  "I'm glad you stood your ground.  Even though it seems like everything is going wrong, you did good."  Tony can't believe he's hearing this.  "You're Director of SHIELD, a position you never wanted but if it protects them, you'll do it.  You don't have to do this alone."

Tony scoffs, pushing Bucky away gently.  The man allows it to happen.  "I do have to do this by myself.  The-" only other man he trusts to do it with him is dead.  It's been four months and Tony still can't believe it. “There’s no one else I can trust.  No one else I’d be willing to let do this.”  He has to lay in bed with his enemies, he wouldn’t wish that on anyone else.  

“You cannot do this alone and survive.”  Bucky has seen the man these last few days.  He’s pretty sure he knows Stark better than Stark knows himself.  And Stark is falling apart at the seams.  It’s not pretty.  And as much as Steve’s last wish was for Bucky, Bucky takes it upon himself to take care of Tony too.  “And he’s not the only person you trust.”  It’s like Tony has forgotten about everyone else who stood by him.

Tony glares down at Bucky, stubborn to the last.  “Then everyone else will have to survive for me.”  His life was forfeit a long time ago.  He’s living a time that’s been borrowed a dozen times over.  Sometime, something has to give.

“That’s not how this works!”  Bucky glares at Tony who just shrugs.

“Why not?”  Tony challenges, picked at various papers on his desk.  Director has far too much paperwork for his liking- but it needs to be done.

And Bucky knows by now that Tony doesn’t see his own worth.  Instead of fighting over that, he tried pointing out how someone else sees Tony.  “Because you were important to Steve.”

“So?  That didn’t stop him from nearly taking my head off.”

“Who’d he give his last will and testament to?”  Tony is silent and Bucky grins, triumphant.  “Exactly.  Now fix me.”  

Tony's head drops.  "Very well.  I'll get my best-" Bucky starts shaking his head and Tony stops short.  "What?"

"I said I wanted you to do it.  Not 'your best' whoever they are."  He crosses his arms.  This is one of those things he's going to be stubborn about.  Tony considers his options.  

"I can't undo all of by myself."  He informs Bucky, bluntly.  "Most of it-with enough time I could probably do it.  But I'm not-I don't exactly have time in spades."  He offers Bucky something that is supposed to be a smile, but it falls short.  "Everyone wants a piece of me."

"Quit."  Bucky offers up, always a fan of a simple solution.  

If only it was that simple.  Tony laughs.  "They won't let me, especially if I don't have someone to replace myself with and I already told you, there’s no one I trust.."

"Rhodes.”  Supposedly Tony’s best friend, Bucky doesn’t understand why he’s not trusted.  “Or Hill.”  Who was currently Tony’s second in command and probably wouldn’t mind a promotion.  “Or Romanov.”  Bucky remembers her and knows she has the skills.  “All good choices."

Tony blinks.  Of all- "It can't be Hill.  She'd be good, except she got a chip in her shoulder about mutants and inhumans.  Useful, sometimes, not great for-"

"There's still two options."  Bucky insists, refusing to let Tony get hung up on the fact his first choice might not be perfect.

Tony tries to think of a good reason why they shouldn't do it, why he should stay in charge of SHIELD.  But there really isn't.  Both Rhodey and Natasha would be good options for replacing him, hell, one of them might even be able to figure out this whole mess.  "Fine, but if this all goes to hell, I'm blaming you."  Neither of them are SHIELD, but they know how this works.  Better then Tony.  He might have been Secretary of Defense and run several Fortune 500 companies, but a spy machine is a different beast. 

"Pleasure it mine."  Bucky takes a few steps back and disappears to the shadows he's emerged from.  At least Tony doesn't have to worry about getting stabbed anymore.  He walks around the desk and slides into the seat.  The calls won't get any easier to make.  He closes his eyes and leans back, mentally queueing up calls for both of them.  Rhodey picks up right away.

"What's up, Tones?"  He asks. There's an odd quality to his voice and Tony checks- yep, he's flying.

"I've got a job offer for you."  It usually works best if he’s straight with Rhodey.

"Don't fake your death again."  It takes Tony a second to realize what he's talking about.

"Wasn't planning on it."  Tony assures him.  "How do you feel about becoming Director of SHIELD?"

There’s a sound that Tony assumes is a laugh or scoff from the other side of the line.  "They'll let you do that?"

Tony can’t see why anyone would protest.  Most of them don’t like him in charge of SHIELD and Rhodey is one of their kind.   "I can be persuasive."

"I've never had a job like that."

The tone doesn’t sound likes Rhodey is kidding but he has to be. "Oh, sure, Colonel Rhodes, you've never led before."  He knew That Rhodey had turned down commanding a base for playing War Machine but that didn’t mean he was incapable.  Hell, his higher up thought he was 'competent to the highest degree' which was probably a more sterling assessment of his abilities then Tony saying he trusted Rhodey.  

"Not something like SHIELD."  Rhodey refutes.  He does have combat experience, but he knows SHIELD isn’t like the Marines.  It’s not really like Stark Industries either, though he’s run that too.  

Tony knows if he presses hard enough, Rhodey will give in.  A couple days earlier, he wouldn’t have bothered, but now talking to Rhodey- he can see how SHIELD would benefit from someone like him at the helm.  Especially compared to someone like Tony.  "It's just like commanding a base."

"A very big base."  Rhodey has an answer for just about everything.  But he knows if Tony really wants Rhodey to take this posting, he will.  

"Is that your answer?"  Tony asks.  He’s not sure why he expected another answer.  Of course Rhodey had more important things to do.

"My answer is yes,”  Rhodey assures him.  Really, all Tony had to do was say he really wanted or needed Rhodey to take this post.  He’d hoped Tony might be a little more forthcoming about what was so necessary about Rhodey taking the post, but oh well.  Rhodey would be finding out first hand soon enough. “But I want someone to guide me on the ropes."

"Hill and Natasha will."  Tony doesn't know if they want to, but considering the fact they will be getting rid of him in the meantime?  They’d probably put up with people much worse than Rhodey.  At least Rhodey will be better at this than Tony ever way.  

Of course, Rhodey knows he’ll be taking Tony’s job.  That leaves him a couple of questions.  "Where'll you be?"  

Tony hadn’t thought that far ahead.  Unusual for him, he was always trying to think four and even five steps ahead of everyone else.  But the longer he thinks on it, the more he can really only see one option for him, "In the armor, doing what I do best." He’s not a great Director, he’s a decent CEO and inventor, but his real calling is Iron Man.  He doesn't feel complete without the suit.  It’s not just a case of being one with the suit, but there’s...something deeper about it.  Like the suit brings him out while providing him with protection.  And better fitted to him than any bespoke suit will ever be.

"I thought Carol was leading the Avenger's line-up?"  Rhodey likes to keep tabs on Carol and Tony.  

"She is,”  Tony assures Rhodey quickly.  Carol earned her spot and Tony wasn’t about to take it away from her.  Besides, the Avengers aren’t the same without...without certain people. “I'm not going to take that from her.  Iron Man can be a solo act."

Rhodey is shaking his head, Tony can only tell because he's tapped into Rhodey's optics.  "Yeah, but it's better when you don't."  It makes Rhodey worry when Tony goes solo.  It has a long history of just ending badly."

"I might have a sidekick lined up."  Tony says it just to reassure Rhodey.  He has no one in mind, despite his surprisingly benevolent murder shadow.

"You damn well better.”  Rhodey hates leaving his friend alone to his own mechanics.  The man is brilliant, and that’s sometimes his downfall.  “War Machine out."

"Bye, Rhodey."  Tony replies, smiling fondly.  It was nice to hear Rhodey’s voice.  

"Bye, Tony.  Take care."  The line drops and while Tony could force it up and open, he doesn't bother.  

He looks over and Bucky is gone- so is the body of the person he killed.  Small mercies.  And just because one headache is gone, that doesn’t mean another one won’t be popping up.  At this point, Tony would be surprised if there weren’t any unforeseen consequences of this.

 

Tony quits five days later and doesn’t make it to see Rhodey’s swearing in ceremony for SHIELD.  He’s assured it was fantastic though.  It would have to be, considering he bankrolled it.  And he’s not quite as wealthy as he used to be, but he’s not poor.  

Rhodey jokes that he inherited a kingdom of ash.  Tony, for all his genius, is not a military man. SHIELD is a mess internally- Tony had never quite managed to learn to delegate when it came to his own projects.  And in SHIELD, no one was supposed to know the whole story, but Tony hadn’t even been telling them parts of the story, leading to a lot of confusion.  And sleeping together did not mean you had a good relationship with your sub-director (Rhodey had to find out about the Tony and Hill thing from another agent. To say the least, it was awkward but surmountable.)  Plus, SHRA was a mess.  

But Rhodey had played delegate between Stark Industries, Stark International, and Stark Resilient with the military.  Playing delegate between superheroes and the government was something he was well versed it.  It could be worse, much worse.  It only took him a couple months to put SHIELD back in order.  It helped that Osborn, one of those who resisted Rhodey’s takeover the most, disappeared with nary a word.  

Rhodey didn’t change how SHIELD worked, but he did change what they were working for.  Their original catch and release method wasn’t going to work.  Nor will bagging and tagging all heroes.  He gets permissions to grant all unRegistered heroes temporary amnesty, just so they can freely walk and talk about.  And they're great help on clean-ups, Rhodey isn’t just gonna let that go.  It doesn’t bring any heroes directly to him, but it opens up several previously closed lines of communication.  Now he just has to give them their carrots.


	2. The Symbols

Figuring out how to deprogram Bucky isn't easy, but Tony is the third smartest person in the world.  Plus, he has Extremis.  Work goes fast.   In the end, they do need someone else's help, since there needs to be an attending physician.  But the trigger words are slowly erased from Bucky's mind under the watchful gaze of Tony and the doctor.  When all is said and done, Bucky is silent as the doctor checks him over.  Once Tony has dismissed the doctor, he speaks.   

"We need to hide the shield."  Bucky still has it and as much as he’d like to keep it, sometimes the safest hands weren’t his.

"The first thing Bucky Barnes says to me and it isn't even commenting on my tux."  Bucky gives Tony a singularly unimpressed look, Tony smirks back.  "Sure, where do you suggest?"

"Some place no one will ever find it."  He’s running through all the bolt holes he knows, but there’s always a chance someone could still find it and he doesn’t want that.  

"I should've given it to Namor..."  Tony comments sadly, shaking his head.

It’s been awhile since Bucky has heard that name.  And now he remembers fighting with the man in the Invaders.  But that doesn’t means he should be given the shield. "Namor?"

"Put Steve's body down in the Arctic.”  Tony explains.  “His real body."

At least Steve’s second and third resting place will be the same, in case of a miraculous recovery.  "What's in Arlington?"  He saw the televised funeral, he knows they put a body into the ground.

"A copy.  A very good copy, if I might say so."  Tony flashes Bucky a smirk.

Bucky blinks.  "You buried a fake corpse in Arlington.  Why?"  That makes Tony’s breakdown over the body somehow worse.  Because it wasn’t even Steve’s body, just some cheap copy.

"Steve wouldn't have liked it.  He would've have wanted so much fanfare."  Tony admits.  "But he was also a hero, he was Captain America.  That kind of man deserves a little rabble rousing at his death."

Bucky supposes he can understand that.  The world would’ve been in an upheaval if Tony had just waved his hand and made the body disappear.  The Arlington burial was for Captain America, the symbol.  The Arctic burial was for Steve Rogers, friend.  It’s not time to linger on that though, Bucky has to move on to other things.  "What are we going to do about what's left of his group?"

Tony blinks at Bucky.  "What?"

"The Secret Avengers or whatever we're calling them, what's going to be done about them?"  Because something needs to be done.  Right now SHIELD sorta has something going on with them, but it’s not fully in effect yet.  Bucky wants to deal with them before SHIELD gets involved.

"Nothing."  Tony admits, looking uncomfortable.  Bucky can't believe his ears.

"Then why are you supporting Registration if you don't want anyone to Register?"  It seemed pretty ridiculous.  And despite Tony’s little speech at Steve’s body, which Bucky knows he wasn’t supposed to witness, Bucky knows Tony believes in what he’s doing.  He just thought it’d also be enough to save Steve.

Tony knows Bucky won’t back down until he gets his answer.  Steve and him are alike in that way, so he mumbles the answer.  "Project WideAwake."

Bucky has enhanced hearing, so he picks it up, but… that can’t be what Tony said.  Project WideAwake was something HYDRA had proposed.   "Project what now?"

"WideAwake.  Basically: gut the metahumans and find out what makes them tick.  That's why I had to...had to attack Peter.  To protect him.  Being on my side isn't safe.”  And he’d already convinced Peter to reveal his identity. Making sure he headed right to Steve was the only way to make sure he stayed alive.  It was unfortunate that Peter couldn’t keep the Iron Spider outfit, but, well, Peter’s life was infinitely more important.  “Yes, Registration is _right_ thing to do...but not like this.  They want us collared and kept like guard dogs.  Which is better than lab rats, but not much better."  He runs a hand through his hair.  "That's why I was Director.  Fuck, I was glad it was Steve I was fighting.  As long as he and his team were out there, were fighting, it was worth it.  People were too focused on the dancing monkey to see-"  Bucky cuts him off, finger to his lips.  It jars Tony a bit, making him lose his train of thought.  But Bucky looks thoughtful, so Tony lets him have it.

"How sure are you that this room isn't bugged?"  He asked, pulling his finger away.

Of all questions, that wasn't the one Tony was expecting.  "It's have to be stone age bugging.  Everything else I can sense.  It practically calls out to me, rolling over and begging for my attention."

"A sex metaphor?  For tech?"  Bucky is quietly amused.

"If the shoe fits..."  Tony replies with a shrug, "Why do you ask?"

"What's WideAwake, the unedited version."  Bucky doesn’t quite ask, but he tried to keep his tone from being a complete demand.

Tony already explained it, but decides to simplify it even further.  "Hell, basically hell.  They want super soldiers.  Since mutants are out thanks to Wanda..."

"Super humans were next." The metal plating on his arm shifts, at though responding to his agitation and Tony's eye is immediately drawn to it.  He's just been messing with Bucky's head, nothing else.  But he did say technology called his name and Bucky's arm was certainly part of that.  It was pretty rudimentary, considering Tony's standards, but he'd like to take it apart.

"Second date."  Bucky's words broke Tony out of his reverie.  He have Bucky a confused look.  "You can take my arm apart after the second date."

Tony rolled his eyes.  "That's torture.  Geneva conventions forbid it."  There, teasing.  Much more comfortable than taking about Registration and what happens if Tony fails.  

"Talk politics to me, baby."  Bucky responds in deadpan.  

Tony snorts.  Just this little exchange has him feeling lighter than ever. "You're a menace."

"Only to society."  Bucky is glad to see Tony isn’t so defensive anymore and makes a note.  Apparently a little friendly ribbing is great at making him relax.  "So the shield?"  Unfortunately, they’ve got business to do.

Tony considers his options before answering Bucky, but when he answers, there’s a certain definitive quality in his voice.  He’s made his choice and he’s sticking to it.  "Wakanda."

"Wakanda?"  Black Panther isn’t exactly friendly with Tony right now.

He gives a nod.  "Yes."

It’s obviously Bucky’s job to poke holes into Tony’s plan.  "And Black Panther will let you into Wakanda why?"  

"Because it's Captain America's shield.”  And Tony knows first hand how some people react to Captain America.  He knows he’d let a known enemy into the city if they had a way to bring Steve back.   “And I'm not going."

Bucky doesn’t know about that. "You're not?  How do you plan on getting the shield then?"  It was obvious that Tony entrusted the shield to Natasha, the once.  But that was it and Natasha was currently with Rhodes and unavailable.

"Nope,”  and there’s a manic look in Bucky’s eye that reminds him of Steve.  Oh, god, there’s two of them. “You are."  He pokes Bucky in the chest to emphasize the point.

Bucky looks down at the finger pointed to his chest.  He can either argue the point, or give in.  Considering Tony has recently been fighting a war, Bucky knows giving in is his best choice.  Doesn’t mean he has to give in to everything though.  Just enough to soften the deal, enough to make it acceptable. "Not without you."

Tony considers, pulling his hand back.  Then he nods.  “Fine.”  It’ll be Bucky’s fault if T’Challa doesn’t let them in.  Though Tony supposes he could just throw Bucky onto Wakandian soil and flee.  Not that he entertains the notion, but it could, theoretically, be a possibility.  “Get packed.  I’ll fly you there right now.”

Bucky wonders how that would work.  He’s seen pictures of Steve and Tony flying together in all sorts of ways, but he can’t imagine it’s comfortable to fly like that for long.  Nor is it something you do with someone you’re unfamiliar with.  “In the suit?”

“No,” Tony hastens to assure him. “I’ve got an old Avengejet.  King T’Challa probably won’t shoot it out of the sky.”  And it’s a probably because only because T’Challa would recognize the type of plane it was and assume Tony would never himself to fly the old junker.  If only that were true.  His life would be much, much simpler if that particular idea about him and all the other ones were true.  Or at least a little truer.

It’s not quite the reassurance Bucky was looking for, but considering Tony is still coming with him, he’ll take it. “That’s...comforting.”

Tony gives Bucky something Bucky supposes is supposed to be a smile, though it doesn’t particularly look like one.  A politician’s smile, perhaps  “I know.”  Tony takes off through his Tower.  It’s still his Tower, despite how much Osborn is trying to take it from him.  And at this rate, Osborn will be prying it from his cold, dead fingers.  Or attempting to.  Except it’ll be kind of awkward, considering Tony’s will still states the Tower and Mansion’s ruins go to Steve.  He should probably get that changed, considering Steve is dead.

 

Getting to Wakanda goes about as well as Bucky had expected.  Which is to say- not at all.  They get shot down, interrogated, Tony starts hallucinating. They get kicked out, but King T’Challa does accept the shield.  And he promises that the only person he’s ever handing it off to is Steve Rogers himself.  Bucky wonders what it says about most of the superhero community that they simply don’t expect Steve to stay dead.  Except Tony, who never reacts to the news that Steve is dead any better than before.  Bucky thinks he’s failed at getting the idea that Steve’s death isn’t Tony’s fault through Stark’s thick head.  

Either way, they’re now on solid land, (not that Wakanda wasn’t solid- it just...well, they were hardly on Wakandian soil) Tony is still hallucinating, and...Bucky is at a loss for what to do.  With Tony, that is, not in general.  He has a plan to help Rhodes and therefore Tony, but it might not happen if he can’t trust Tony to stand up and walk in a straight line.  It’s disconcerting to see Tony chat casually with people who aren’t there.  Worse are the nightmares Bucky knows Tony has that he won’t talk about with anyone.  The man wakes up screaming more often than not.  And that’s just when he’s sleeping.  When he’s not sleeping, he’s talking to people Bucky can’t see.  Holding entire conversations (and moral shouting matches) with them.  Sometimes Tony talks to Bucky the same way he talks to the others and sometimes he talks to Bucky like he’s actually there.  Bucky never knows what to expect.

Surviving by himself would be hard enough, but surviving with Tony makes things even more difficult.  He’d hate to think what would’ve happened had Tony still been in charge of SHIELD like this.  Tony isn’t fit to live on his own, never mind run a huge espionage/military department.

In the end, he beds Tony down with a nice Ukranian woman and takes off back to the United States.  As much as he doesn’t want to leave Tony, he’s got a snake to kill.  Finding the elder Osborn is hard, but he manages it.  It helps that Harry, Osborn’s son, isn’t quite as crazy as his father is and doesn’t take kindly to his fiance lying to him about being pregnant with his son, compared to being pregnant with his father’s son.  Harry helps him locate the elder and Bucky slits the man’s throat.  There, no more coup to be.  Rhodey will be able to deal with other detractors, but Bucky hadn’t liked how Osborn had handled Tony and he doubts he would’ve been much fonder of how the man interacted with Rhodey.  

Harder than killing Osborne is making sure that no one thinks Osborn is killed.  In the end, Bucky makes it look, like Osborn fled the country and disappeared in a flight of insanity.  No one questions it.   And for his services, Harry splits his inheritance with Bucky, citing that he doesn't know how long his father’s and his ex-fiance’s charade would’ve went on or what he would’ve done for the son that isn’t his.  Ah, the wonders of being rich.  You didn’t have to wait 7 years after disappearing for your assets to be formally declared abandoned and your will to be followed.  

Bucky returns to Tony, finding his situation much improved and Tony back on his feet.  The Ukrainian woman and Tony have taken to flirting with each other, but it’s good to see the ‘old’ Tony, that Steve talked about, back.   He asks Tony about the hallucinations and nightmares, but Tony waves him away, brushing it off as nothing.  Which, while concerning, isn’t all that surprising.  Bucky is no Rhodey and he’s not even sure Tony would talk about such things with Rhodey.  The nightmares and hallucinations had obviously been working Tony into a frenzy.  

They stay with her (she gives her name as Anastasia, but Bucky thinks she’s lying.  Bucky also doesn't call her on it-people are allowed their secrets.  And it’s not like they’re introducing themselves as Tony Stark and James Barnes so, really, ‘Anastasia’ isn’t the worst she could do) a while longer before leaving again.  Bucky feels weird staying one place, even though they aren’t technically on the run.  And they don’t precisely have a goal in mind, but Tony wants to stop by and check other, retired, Avengers  (Bucky asks about Wanda once, but Tony gives him such an odd look that he doesn't bring it up again). Bucky invites himself along for the ride, knowing that at the very least it won’t be boring.


	3. Return in Defeat

The two of them travel together for nearly four years before they get the news about the bombing.  They both receive the news at about the same time.  Or rather Tony gets the news and Bucky sees him drop dead after seeing him take a sip of coffee (it’s the stuff Tony insists states terrible but he always drinks anyways.  And Bucky had been drinking from the same pot earlier, so it obviously wasn’t poisoned…).  There's a terrifying thirty seconds where James thinks Tony is dead, but manages to find his pulse and lets out a breath of relief.  He doesn't know what's going on, but anything less than death Extremis can heal.

Tony isn’t out long, but he wakes up shouting out a single name. "Rhodey!"

Bucky manages not to startle.  He merely gives Tony a look and asks, "What about Rhodey?"  He rather hopes it’s not more hallucinations.

"We need to get back."  The armor was already forming around Tony.  No matter how many times Bucky saw it, it was still a little disconcerting to see Tony bleeding his armor.  

"Okay, why?"

"Rhodey."  He stressed the name like it held the secrets of the universe then scoffed when Bucky didn't get it.  He just picked up the man and took off as fast as he could.  The serum would make sure that Bucky didn't suffer from wind burn too badly but that didn’t mean the flight was pleasant.  Bucky yelled and struggled, but only for a little bit.  Soon they were too far off the ground and falling would've meant death, even for Bucky.  

Tony flew nonstop to New York City and Bucky gaped at what he saw.  The whole city was practically gone, nothing more than a giant chasm in the earth.  The epicentre was the...prison?  That was Bucky's conclusion.  Someone had blown up the _prison_ , probably with everyone inside.  The Rhodey comment still didn't make much sense.  Not until Tony starts digging through the rubble like a madman, then the pieces fall together.  Rhodey was in the explosion.  Since Tony has Extremis, he probably got a distress beacon from Rhodey.  Or Rhodey's suit went dead.  Bucky joins in the search.

They find Rhodey, several hours later.  He's alive-he's one of the lucky ones.  But he's unconscious.  And when they get him to a hospital, they get told he's got some severe internal damage, but the suit saved him from death.  He's comatose, and there's not much hope he'll ever recover.  All of Rhodey’s and Natasha’s hard work is done but this explosion set everything back.  Bucky does a little reading up on what he and Tony missed (there’s a lot).  

But Rhodey had made more progress than anyone.  He’d started issuing pardons, he’d convinced the President, his cabinet, Congress, and the House of Representatives to not press charges on the Unregistered for a year using blunt force and common sense.  It was rather awe inspiring, if Bucky could say so.  The day of the explosion was supposed to be a cornerstone day.  Rhodey had agreed to release several heroic prisoners to the Secret Avengers as a sign of faith.  Then it had literally exploded in everyone’s face.  Most of the city was decimated and those who had come to witness the event were mostly dead.  The only reason Rhodey had survived at all was because of the armor.  Other heroes weren’t so lucky.  Cloak had gotten many out, but not all of them.  And in a last ditch effort to save the others, he’d died as well.

The day that was supposed to reunite the two factions of Superheroes ended up dividing them deeper than ever.  And the one man who might know how to fix it was sitting in a coma.  Doctors were pretty sure he’d never fully recover, but Tony tended to growl at anyone who suggested such a thing.  They stopped suggesting it and just planned to keep Rhodey on life support indefinitely.  Bucky didn’t know the whole story behind it, but Tony had said something about a man named “Happy.”  From what he remembered, that’d been the man who married Pepper (she’d been beside Rhodey when the explosion had happened.  There wasn’t even a body to be found.).


	4. The Iron

The division becomes a literal geographic division soon after the explosion.  On one side- Tony Stark, leader of the Iron.  And the other side is Peter Parker, leader of the Blue.  Iron is relegated to the smaller East Coast, but they have industry.  Not nearly enough room, but Tony tries his hardest to mitigate that by building up.  His cities are works of wonder, but done as labor.  

Bucky is beside Tony every day, he sees Tony at his best or worst.  On occasion, Tony still talks to those who aren't there.  But he's learned to muffle his screaming during his nightmares.  And the physicality of running a country is something Tony is surprisingly good at.  Mostly because Bucky and Jen take care of the military between them and leave Tony to civilian and industrial pursuits.  Iron functions much smoother after that.  It works and that's good enough for most people.

Government is missing for the first year, but everyone knows Tony despite his disappearing act, so everyone looks up to him.  Governors (or what's left of them- a great many disappeared after the explosion) look up to him.  The Vice President is still alive, but he's in hiding and can't hold the reigns of a rebuilding.  Heroes bear the brunt of rebuilding, all that's left of them.  Tony becomes someone they look up too.  And slowly, news of the Blue trickles in.  They have their own set of heroes, their own rules.  They have the land that the Iron doesn't and lacks the huge population the Iron has also accumulated.  

Two years after the Schism, the Iron world is nearly back on track.  And so, it seems, is the Blue.  This is the first attack against the Iron and they weren't prepared for it, so it nearly cripples them.  That's when every Iron city is neatly wired with its own protective AI.  Huge gossamer domes extend over these precious citadels, protecting them from harm.  People have jobs, support their families.  Supplies are rationed, but it's not a bad life.  

For the first time, people feel safe again.  Heroes are part police, part propaganda and it works.  Registration happens, but it manages to be peaceable.  Between Bucky and Tony they know everyone and that's where line of knowledge ends.  The public doesn't know, just those two.  And they hold themselves accountable.

Another benefit of the sudden safeness people feel again, despite the occasional bombing of their towns and cities is that they call for an election.  The Iron is still regarded at the 'legitimate' United States of America, and the term of the vice president is over.  Unlike before, where elections were a zoo, no one campaigns.  The people pick who they know.

They call it an election, but Bucky knows there's only one name on the ballot.  No one wants to run against Tony because they're terrified that they'll win.  And Tony has been de facto leader for several years, he knows this fractured country best.  The only thing really needing to be decided is who will be Tony's vice president.  The ballot has a choice between Bucky and Jen.  Bucky really hopes Jen wins.  Not that he wouldn't like being Tony's right hand man, because he has been for the last couple of years, since Steve died- but he knows Jen would be an excellent woman to countermand Tony.  She’s one of the few left who worked closely with Rhodey and she’s not terrified of Tony when he uses Extremis.  Plus, she’s a powerhouse.  That's always a good thing.

And maybe, if Bucky wasn’t always working right beside Tony, he could take a vacation to the outer rims of Iron territory and figure out what exactly he felt for Tony.  At this point, he knew it was beyond simple affection or even admiration, but there was still so many things it could be.  And Bucky wanted to know.

In the end, the votes are counted.  By popular vote, President Tony Stark is sworn in with his Vice President Jennifer Walters.   Bucky ends up assigned to the VP's delegation to the outer reaches of the Iron territory.  He goes without complaining, promising to return with reports.  Tony makes him swear he'll come back, citing a standing place in Tony's own ceremonial guard.  Bucky doesn't quite get why, but he promises to come back.  


	5. Secrets and Skrulls, Oh my!

Bucky came back with surprising news from the Blue, overheard and verified in a small Iron territory: Steve isn't dead.  It's a surprise to all of the Iron to hear that the iconic hero isn't as dead as believed.  Hell, Bucky had met Tony because Steve had died.  The last several years had been written because of Steve's death. And for what? Nothing, apparently, the man wasn't dead.  The legend lived on.  Bucky wasn't sure what he thought about that.  There was a war going on, Bucky was against Steve...and it didn't hurt as bad as he thought it would because Tony was with him.  Sometimes, he was pretty sure it was worse for Tony to fight Steve, to be opposed to him once again then it was for Bucky.  He believed in what they were fighting for, but he wasn't always sure that Tony did.  Tony just looked sad and tired a lot, constantly watching the world from his windows.  He wasn't really Iron Man anymore, he was the Iron instead.  His mind ran the strongest super-computer in the world.  He kept the Iron on it's legs.  Because they were tight on resources, tight on space.  There were too many people, but he did try his hardest.  

But Bucky knew that he would have to talk to Tony about Steve, now that he was back.  He approached Tony's door, it opened for him automatically, but Tony didn't see him.  He was too focused on something else.  And there's a glass of something on his desk that looks far too much like scotch.  Bucky feels his hackles rise, Tony hasn't drank any alcohol since Steve died and even before that.  He draws closer to the desk and sniffs-yes, it's definitely scotch.  Not expensive stuff, but they're on war rations and Tony'd never afford himself anything better than what his own people can have.  It's one of the many traits Bucky admires about him.  Bucky takes the cup and drains it, careful to not make a face at the taste.  He's reasonably sure Tony hadn't drunk any of it yet.

Then he taps the back of Tony's hand.  It's the best way to wake him out of his Extremis state and if it was something too important, it wasn't so jarring that he'd mess up.  It was a little trick left over from their running days.  After a couple of seconds, Tony's eyes opened.  

It was one of those quirks that Bucky hasn't managed to talk Tony out of, the eye closing thing.  Tony's eyes went gold when he accessed Extremis, Bucky only knew this because he'd seen it once.  But apparently before him there'd been others and they weren't so kind when it came to Tony's gift.

"Anything I need to be worried about?"  Bucky asks, Tony shakes his head.  

"Here to turn in your resignation?"  Bucky groans, because Tony sounds defeated, not joking.

He shakes his head, looking at Tony, "Why'd I resign?"  He believed in Registration. And these days, Tony and him have more history between them then Bucky ever had with Steve.  He’d known Steve a grand total of four years. He’s lived with Tony going on ten now.

Even the shrug Tony gives feels half-hearted.  "Steve.  I mean..."

Bucky feels like throwing up.  After all this time and Tony still thinks Bucky is just going to drop him and run to Steve's side?  They'd built on the firm foundations Rhodey had left them, they were the core of Iron.  Or at least Tony was and Bucky wasn't going to leave him alone.  If he wasn't there, who'd watch Tony's six?  (Lots of people.  Lots of good, trustworthy people.  Bucky still didn't like the idea.  Protecting Tony was his job, not anyone else's job.)

"Nah."  He tries to keep it casual.  "I mean, am I glad the punk is alive? Sure.  But I made my promise to the Iron and I intend to keep it, to the last moment if I have to."  Dying for the Iron was something Bucky had accepted a long time ago.  All of Iron’s heroes had- Parker would attack viciously and without warning.  They’d lost good men that way, but so had Peter.

Tony looks him in the eye, looking for a sign of deceit, Bucky is sure.  He meets the gaze calmly, because he has nothing to hide.  He is loyal to Tony and Iron, it's that simple.  "You sure, James?"

"Of course I am, Tony.”  It smarts, a bit, that Tony wouldn’t believe him.  But perhaps it’s fair.  Everyone likes to play up Bucky and Steve’s bond.  “Now come on, Mr. President, let's get you to bed."  If Tony was contemplating drinking, bed was most certainly something that had to happen.

Manhandling Tony is something that comes somewhat naturally.  Tony is practically dead weight, letting Bucky do whatever he pleases.  In this case, it means picking him up and carrying him to his quarters.  They go in silence, until Tony looks at Bucky and quietly asks, "Would you step down if I asked you?"

Bucky felt his heart freeze.  "Of course.  Anything you require..."

"I want you by my side.”  Tony admits casually, like he hadn’t just given Bucky the third degree about not trusting him.  He loops his arms around Bucky’s neck, helping Bucky balance him.  “Not out traveling from base to base, from city to city.  You're too vulnerable like that."

"I can make several excellent suggestions for my replacement."  He will do anything required of him by the Iron, even this.  

"You can be my Secretary of War.  My more subtle right hand."  There's something maniac in the suggestions now, Bucky doesn't like it.  

"Whatever you want, Tony."  He aims to be reassuring, leading Tony through opening doors towards his room.

Tony is silent as he's laid in bed.  But as Bucky turns to leave, the president grabs Bucky's sleeve.  Bucky turns back around, meeting electric blue eyes far more aware then they were mere minutes ago, "But what do you want?"

"I don't care." He answers evenly with a well practiced lie.

Unfortunately, Tony knows him too well and blue eyes narrow.  "That's a lie."

He knows what he wants, he also knows he can't have it.  Somethings are not allowed, and some are permissible, but not beneficial.  This would be the latter.  "I don't care where you put me."  As long as I can watch your back.  

"Oh," and Tony's voice has changed, "you're sure?" 

"Yes.  Now come on, bed."  Bucky can, and has on other occasions, undressed Tony.  But he would rather let Tony keep that dignity.

Instead of behaving, Tony sits up, eyes slipping closed as he accessed Extremis.  "I don't-"

"I know, Tony," Bucky interrupted him gently, "that you don't need sleep.  But it does help.  Just because it's not necessary for functionality does not mean it cannot improve the effectiveness."

"Fine."  Tony lays down, head hitting the mattress with a thump.  "Join me?"

Bucky offers him an amused stare.

"I know."  Tony knows a few things, but Bucky hopes he doesn't know why Bucky has to refuse for now.  "I just...he's back, James.  And I don't want to be alone.  It'll just be sleeping, I promise."

Then again, Bucky has never been good at saying no to Tony.  "Very well."

The smile, small as it was, made Bucky's week. "Thank you."

It's his pleasure.  And possibly some form of torture.  He's always had a wild streak to him.  Both retire to bed, partially dressed since neither truly expect to be able to sleep through the night.  Nothing between the two is quite solved, but it's not as bad as it was before.

And Bucky is from there on, always at Tony's side.  It's this that saves his life.  

It’s just like any other night.  They’re bedding down together, as they’ve become accustomed to doing.  There are many speculations as to what they’re doing together, but so far no one has guessed just residing in the same place.  Sometimes literally sleeping together, if Tony gets the urge.  Despite Tony’s insistence that Bucky is his guard, more often than not Bucky is sleeping as Tony keeps guard over him.  

Tony is awake, hand resting in Bucky’s hair when he catches sight of movement in the room.  The movement is wrong, Tony knows all the dark corners of this room, every shadow cast and created.  It’s not one of them.  Tony doesn’t bother with a warning, just calls the gauntlet to his hand and shoots at it.  If his mind is acting up again, he’ll apologize to Bucky (though he’s pretty sure he fixed that issue.)  The brief light of the repulsor beam allows him to see...Bucky? 

The flash also wakes Bucky up. He goes from sleeping to full wakefulness in a couple of seconds.  Tony gets out of bed, heading towards the felled body, Bucky joins him.  Yeah, it definitely looks like Bucky, but Bucky is beside him.  He knows because Bucky was with him all day, has barely left his side since Steve returned. 

"What the fuck is that?"  Tony asks as Bucky prods it with his foot.  

Bucky doesn’t have a clue, so he just states the obvious.  "It looks like me, it's pretty creepy."

"Yeah..."  Tony trails off, watching the corpse.  It turns green and reverts to something that doesn't look anything like Bucky at all, but it's still wearing his outfit.  

"That's not good."  Bucky murmurs.

Tony nods and Bucky looks over.  His eyes are gold, that's not a good thing in this situation.  "The worst part was that he registered as you.  Even now, when he's not, he's still coming up on the sensors as James Barnes."  Tony is paranoid.  He likes knowing where everyone is at any given moment.  It’s come in handy when Parker and his nation try to attack the Iron.

"Fuck." And Tony already doesn't trust him as much as he used to because of the whole Steve thing.  They don't need this on top of it.  Plus, it's the perfect infiltration.  Tony's bio-metrics read them as the people they look like pre-mortem despite how alien they look.  "I wonder if just knocking them out would revert them.  Is it a conscious thing to hold?"  Bucky kneels down beside the body, examining it.  "Who do you trust to gut this thing?"

It's not a decision Tony hasn't made before and one of his most trusted is already in the room.  "You got a knife?"

"Always."  And a gun.  He doesn't feel safe unless he's armed and preferably with something more substantial then his wits.

Tony gestures to the body, "Go ahead."  

"I'm not certified for this."  Bucky feels required to point this out.  His understanding of anatomy is basic.  He knows enough to keep himself alive.

"But I trust you."  Besides, Tony had a mental super computer.  Bucky's hands and Tony's mind could already do a great many terrible and wonderful things.  An autopsy would be relatively simple.

It’s a surprise to hear.  Bucky looks up at Tony and he nods back.  So out comes the knife.  They gut the creature, whatever is it, right there.  They don’t tell anyone, because if Bucky could be replaced then anyone could.  They’re both very careful at logging the differences between the actual Bucky and the imitation Bucky.  They’re gonna have to figure out a way to tell them apart, without resorting to murder.  And they're going to have to deal with the fact they've got an enemy in their midst who just might not be the Blue.


	6. Chapter 6

It's been two days since Jen relaid a message from the Blue.  Tony still hasn't figured out how to tell Bucky.  As they lay down to sleep for another night, Tony knows he shouldn't keep this secret from Bucky any longer.  "Steve wants a meeting."

Since Tony has been unusually quiet, Bucky hadn't been expecting the first thing they talked about tonight to be this. "What?"  The subject matter isn't that crazy, considering Jen had told Bucky a similar thing but it's been nearly two days.  Bucky had almost expected Tony to sneak off on his own to meet Steve.

"Right along the Middle."  Tony continues quietly.  "He wants peace talks.  What now?"

Bucky is at a loss for how to answer.  "We know we have Skrulls."  Tony had suggested calling them Wraith, but eventually they'd settled on Skrull because the corpse had been most different in the skull area.  "Maybe he has a similar problem?"  He doesn't know what to think.  It's been six years since the nation split in two.  Neither Tony or Bucky are physically changed (perhaps a bit more grey, but that's it) but 

"Peace talks over them?"  Tony doesn't buy it.  He's also not sure he buys the idea that Steve or Peter honestly want peace.  Perhaps Peter wants to see his family...that's understandable.  That's something within Tony's power.  Peace?  Tony's not sure he remembers what that is like.

"Tony, they almost replaced me."  Bucky reminds him.  He doesn't think Tony forgot but, the implications of that were wild and varied, "Would've, if not for..." Not for the fact Tony hadn't trusted him because Steve came back to life.  This was their reality. 

"If I wasn't there."  Tony finished.  Bucky didn't correct him.  "Good thing I like my Bucky-bear, huh?"  He doesn't want to know what the Skrull wouldn't done if he hadn't been there.

"And that's a huge security risk."  Bucky points out.  "If they'd gotten away with it, you'd have never know and I'm still keyed into all the cities."

"Maybe they act different?”  Tony could hope so.  He couldn’t imagine himself not being able to tell if Bucky had been replaced or not.  “I mean they've got perfect replication abilities, but that doesn't mean they can act like that person, does it?"

"It's not like we can ask them."  They’d only run into the one Skrull, that they knew of, and by then it’d been dead.  Thankfully.

Tony was glad he shot the creature, but he also needed more information.  "Unless we can find another one."  He didn't know how to lure one out, but he wanted to try.

"We'd need a way to differentiate between them and who they're impersonating without killing them.  We must assume the worse."  Bucky insisted.  As much as it pained him to do so, they couldn't afford even the smallest of mistakes.

Tony sighed.  "That they're perfect infiltrators.  That we've already been infiltrated.  We've already gone over this."  Circles wouldn't help them in this instance.

"Sleep on it?"  Bucky finally suggested, lost for what else to say.  "And take security."  Tony would go to the peace talks, Bucky already knew that.  He knew his friend, Tony would go for peace at any cost but the lives of his people.  It's one of the reasons he'd been re-elected so many times.  

"You tell me to sleep on it, but you seem to already know my answer."  Tony muttered.  "But fine, I'll sleep tonight."  Bucky wouldn't be able to tell if he was actually sleeping or just pretending to while he worked with Extremis, but Bucky certainly hoped he slept.  In the morning, Bucky woke and Tony told him he'd made him mind about meeting with Steve.  It was going to get done, they just had to pick a time.  And Bucky was going to stay behind, looking after the Iron with Jen.  

 

No one knew what to expect.  Not Steve, not Mirame, and certainly not Tony himself.  He could only hope for the best as he landed near the edge of the Middle, nearly alone on the plane.  Joining him was one guard, the pilot, and the Parkers.  He exits down the stairs, looking over the desert.  Once, this was a city.  Then he decided to put a prison in the middle of it and it exploded in his face.  Nearly literally.  

His eyes fell on Steve's own troupe of characters.  It was easy to pick out former friends.  Steve himself, Peter at his side. McCoy and Clint hang back slightly, but that doesn't make them any less recognizable.   It's a shame McCoy sided with Steve, Tony would've liked him around to work on Rhodey's coma.  Perhaps that's one of the many things they'll negioate on.  

Tony reached the bottom of the stairs and approached Steve with an outstretched hand.  It was an important part of peace talks, at least according to Mirame Sharpe.  She didn't know an action like this had nearly ended in Tony's defeat by Steve so many years before.  Steve grasps Tony's hand firmly, but keeps the handshake short and the two of them approach Mirame's house together.  Their people uneasily mingle, until the moment Parker sees his wife and son.

"Bucky didn't want me to come."  Tony admits before they reach the door.  Steve's eyes dart up to meet his for the first time.  There's surprise there and no small part of anguish.  

"He didn't?"  Tony's surprised by how small the General's voice sounds.

But Tony refuses to lie.  "No.  Said he didn't think it was safe enough for his President."  Among many other things.

Steve holds Mirame's door for him and it's bizarre.  Tony steps through anyways as Steve asks his next question. "He's in the Iron right now?"

"Yes.  No man I trust more then him."  Well, he trusted Bucky and Jen about equally.  And he knew if this was a trap, they'd take good care of his people together.  "He'll take good care of them all."

Steve nods.  "I'm glad you two had each other."  And with that, their stilted chitchat halts as Mirame stands.  The woman has aged gracefully and gestures for them to take opposite ends of the table.  It's a long table and Tony is privately amused.  At least it'll stop them from jumping at each other's throats, though the fact Tony keeps his suit in his bones means distance isn't an issue.

"Now, gentlemen," Mirame starts once they've reached their ends of the table, "let the peace talks commence."  Tony turns to smile at her and there's the sound of shattering glass.  It takes him a while to feel the pain and he looks down at his suit (a luxury he allowed himself for this day) and gasped.  The bullet had pierced his back and the exit wound along his front was gaping.  It was pretty obvious that the shot had come from his side and with a large caliber.  Both Mirame and Steve looked very shocked and they were the last thing he saw before he pitched forward as he blacked out.


	7. Chapter 7

He awoke to the sound of shouting.  He easily identified one of the voices as Bucky, but it took him several minutes to place Steve.  Between Steve's death and the war, it had been an unfortunate while since Tony had really listened.  There'd been the peace talk earlier, but that was only time since Steve had died that he had heard the man.  It hadn't been quite enough to jog his memory.  He opened his eyes and looked around.  Yep, certainly a hospital.  Even on of Iron's, if the equipment was any indication.  That meant Steve was on Iron soil, yeah, Bucky wouldn't be taking that too well.   He closed his eyes and checked his internal systems.  It's been awhile since he's been shot, it shouldn't have taken him out like that.

But it had, so he checked the wound site.  Perfectly healed, as was expected.  He reached out a bit further, feeling for Bucky’s arm.  Ah, there it was.  He made it beep out morse code.  Bucky would know what he was trying to say.  Bucky stormed into his room a couple seconds later, followed by Steve.

“You’re supposed to be resting, Tony, you were just shot.”  Bucky groused, coming up alongside the hospital bed. 

“I feel fine.”  Tony insisted, waving his hand dismissively.

"Because that means so much coming from you."  Bucky retorted.  "Stay in bed."

Tony didn't even bother pretending he was going to do so, he stood up, balancing himself against the IV drip.  "Someone else needs it more than me.  We're having issues with overcrowding, you know that."  Bucky slouches, putting his human arm around Tony.  

"Fine, to your room?"

"Or is yours closer?"

"Gave it away.  Overcrowding issues."

Steve clears his throat.  "Tony-"

Tony holds up a hand and Steve stops short.  "No, we aren't having this conversation now.  I don't want to have this conversation now.  You can talk to my secretary of War, make an appointment just like everyone else."  They need to figure out the Skrull thing, having Steve here is difficult.

Bucky sighs.  "Come on, Tony."  Tony gives him a betrayed look, he thought after all this time Bucky would be on his side.  Bucky seems to know exactly what the look is for.  "We yelled to an understanding.  He's not gonna hash out a truce, while you're like this at least."

"Oh, fantastic.  Why does he need to talk to me though?"  Yes, he's ignoring the fact Steve is right there and Tony could actually address him. 

Bucky rolls his eyes, "He wants to apologize."

"What for?"

"You getting shot?"

"He had me shot?"  And yeah, he sounds hurt.  He didn't realize Steve would go that far to get rid of him.

"No!"  Steve shouts, causing Tony to look over at him.  "I'd never...that's not how I work, Tony.  I'm not going to have you shot at a peace conference."

"But you'd have me shot at other times?"  Tony challenged.  Steve looks very uncomfortable.  

"We were at war."  Steve finally says, like that explains everything.  Which it  might, but Tony still has nightmares about Steve getting shot.  Even though they're at war with each other, Tony'd never stoop that low.  It's a shock to know Steve would.

"Hey," Bucky says gently, "None of that.  Come on, Tony.  Mr. Rogers has something he'd like to say before I carry you off to our room."

"Fine, you may say your piece."

"Thank you, Tony.  I just wanted to say I'm sorry you were injured at our peace procession.  In the interest of keeping negotiations open, we'd like to wait until you're fully recovered before reconvening at another location.  One preferably...not so public.  Getting shot once is bad enough, but twice...well, no one wants that."

Tony considers the offer.  "Fine.  That'll do."   Steve doesn't leave immediately though, which leads to a staring contest.  Tony gives up first.  "Fine, what else do you want?"

"Nothing."  Steve admits, slowly.  "I'm just glad you're okay.  Glad you're both okay."

Tony doesn't know what that is all about, so he calls Jen through the communicators placed at strategic points throughout the Iron.  If you have to be a super computer, it's better to be a well connected one, at least in Tony's mind.  

Jen arrives quickly, head dipping in greeting to Tony and Bucky.  "Come with me, Mr. Rogers.  I'll escort you to the border.  Your own men will be meeting us there."  With one last look, Steve follows after Jen, leaving Bucky and Tony alone together.  

"So..."  Bucky starts, but Tony just shakes his head.  That little conversation was exhausting enough. 

"Can we just..."  Tony says, cadence slower than normal because his mouth is dry, "go to bed?  I really want to sleep."

"Of course, Tony."  Bucky wants to talk about it, but it's pretty obvious that Tony doesn't.  That's okay, Bucky can respect that.  Bucky will respect that, no matter how much he wants to press.  "Need me to carry you?"

"No."  Tony shakes his head.  "Just your support should be enough.  I'm mostly recovered, anyways."

"You had us worried for a bit."  Bucky admits as they slowly make their way out of the hospital.  "You lost a hell of a lot of blood and it didn't look like Extremis was working."

"But I should've fixed Extremis by now..."

"Fix Extremis?"  Besides the hallucinations a while ago, Bucky hadn't been aware that there was anything wrong with Extremis.  Tony hadn't mentioned anything certainly.

"Yeah."  Tony admits as Bucky puts him in bed.  "There have been a few bugs here and there, I'm working on ironing them out."

"Why didn't you mention them?"  Bucky asks.  "That's an important thing for me to know.  What if you'd glitched out while doing something important."

"It was small bugs, didn't mess with any primary systems.  I wasn't worried.  I mean, Extremis was a retrovirus I modified to keep me from dying.  Of course it's going to have a few kinks here and there.  I just thought I'd got all them..."

"Stopping you from healing seems like a pretty serious glitch."

"And it's a relatively new one.  Most of the others were a recurring small time issues."

"So you're saying this could reoccur?"

"Possibly?"  TOny doesn't think it will though.  "Did you get the bullet?"

"Yeah, it was extracted from you and logged into evidence."

"Who's allowed to access it?"

"Everyone who is a police chief or higher."  That's general protocol, Tpny would know that.  But he asked, which means...Bucky should've restricted the access.  Stupid.  A Skrull shot Tony.  "Modified bullet, you think?  Something to keep Extremis down?"

"But what if they missed?"

"The extra wouldn't have done anything to Ms. Sharpe, probably.  Might've kept Steve's serum down too?  Since it's already weaker since his rebirth."

"We're all fragile."

"You're all human."  Bucky points out, "That's a little different."

"Fragile, human all seems the same to me."

Bucky can't really argue with that, so he changed the subject as he slips into his own pajamas.  "Are you going to go to the second peace conference?"

"Of course.' Tony is as ready as everyone else for this war to be over.  It's gone on too long.  "I'm hoping, that between the two countries, we might be able to come up to a solution to Rhodey's coma."

It's been a couple years, nothing too long, but Tony has refused to give up on Rhodey.  It's gotten to the point where he'd rather resources be allocated to Rhodey then to himself.  Bucky would tell him to give it up, if he didn't know how important it was to Tony.

"You really think he can be revived?"

"Of course.  The hardest part will be the PT when he wakes up.  His muscles are atrophied as hell.  Of course, I did assign him to be worked on- but active patients require more attention.  And he'd hate it if I didn't give them that much."

"How about another clone body?"

"No, already tried it.  Cloning a clone doesn't go so well.  Too much cellular degeneration.  I'm working on getting Extremis to work with his cells, but it's slow going.  If I had more minds...it'd be faster."

"So Rhodey is your reason for reunification?" 

"No, Bucky, you know he's not the only reason.  This war has dragged on.  There are literally families split down the center.  Peter is still Steve's right hand man.  His wife and child still live in the Iron...Reunification is for them too.  And we're running out of space, they're running out of supplies...Reunification is the only way we'll survive."  Tony was tired, tired of war and toil and fighting.  Some days, he wished Bucky hadn't convinced him to put Rhodey in charge.  Then they wouldn't be dealing with this whole mess.  "Besides, wouldn't it be nice to fight Skrulls beside them instead of fighting Skrulls and them?"

"It's not much of a fight against Skrulls.  We barely know they exist."

"It'll be a fight eventually."

"So much faith."

"Someone has to have faith."  Tony answered.  "Because it's the only way we're going to survive this.  War is hell."

"That's never changed."  Bucky admits, curling into Tony's side.  "The only thing that changes is what's being fought over."

"Registration wasn't worth all this heartache."  Tony admits, echoing his words to Steve's corpse years earlier.  

"Very few things would be."  Bucky agrees easily.  "But it's nearly over now.  Just have to talk to Steve, deal with the Skrulls, save the world.  Just like old times."

"Since I'm the hero, does that mean I get the girl?"  Tony teased.

"What girl do you want?"  Bucky challenged, aware the topic had shifted dramatically.

Tony blinked, then smiled softly.  "The one who was beside me all along."

"He's already yours, idiot."

"Oh."  Tony laughed.  It was a wonderful sound, one Bucky hadn't heard in a long time.  Before the Split.  "I'll take him up on it when the ink is drying, how that?"

"He'd like that a lot."  Bucky admits, smiling back.  And that's how they fall asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Life isn't easy from then on out, it never is.  Finding a safe, neutral place to have peace conferences isn't easy.  Especially since both Steve and Tony want Sharpe involved and the Skrulls are still at large.  Steve still doesn't know about the Skrulls, though both Bucky and Tony do want to tell him.  In the end they agree not to, simply because they don't know if Steve is a Skrull or not.  They have the same horrifying realization that Steve might never have come back from the dead, but simply had a Skrull pretending to be him.  Anything, after all, was possible, no matter how much they didn't want it to be true.  Since there were only two of them, their forces were spread very thin all the time.  One had to stay at the conferences, one had to stay with the Iron.  That didn't leave them a lot of personal time to deal with their newly realized attraction to one another.  

But they manage.  They pass letters to one another, text each other, all sorts of things.  They aren't sappy, they don't have the energy for that, but they're quietly affectionate.  And they sleep in the same bed whenever they can.  It's a bit unusual, but it's what works for them.

Then one day, Bucky's com crackles with what might sound like static to a less trained ear.  Tony loves sending morse code messages this way and so Bucky listens.  It's only one word.  S-U-C-C-E-S-S.  Bucky grins like a moron.  That's one part down, only two left to go.  Of course, Bucky can't run out to Tony and kiss him silly.  It's firstly plainly impossible and secondly highly unprofessional.  But there's a truce.  A good truce, since Tony agreed to it and he'd never agree to it unless it was fair for the Iron.  Mary Jane and her son might be reunited with their husband and father soon.  That's exciting news.  

He waits until Tony is home (it's two days after the message.  Bucky hates that he has to wait so long but understands that it might be necessary.  They can't reveal the location for the talks, after all.).  Tony is in his Iron Man armor, Bucky meets him at the top of the Iron.  It's not really 'their' place, but it's infrequently visited, even now that the bombings have stopped.

"So?"  Bucky asks, grinning as Iron Man lands.

The faceplate disappears into Tony's skin, revealing Tony's smiling face.  "What?"  He asks, "Not even a hello?"   He walks towards Bucky.

"Hello is for later."  Bucky insists, meeting Tony halfway. "I got your message.  You have the treaty?"  Tony nods.

"Yes, trade officially starts in a week.  But more then that, I get Reed."

"Reed?  You think he'll..."  Bucky trails off.

"Be able to wake Rhodey up?  Yes, I do.  He's a genius, after all.  And I definitely owe it to Rhodey to try.  Apparently, Steve really wants to talk with him."

"Why?"

"Steve talked about his time...being dead.  But it wasn't really being dead, it was more like a limbo thing?  And apparently Rhodey was there.  And Rhodey talked some sense into him.  Or a lot of sense." 

"Rhodey can talk sense into anyone."  Bucky marveled.  "Even the most stubborn of humans."

"Well, he did befriend me."  Tony replies.  "I believe I was promised a kiss?"  He switched gears, not because he didn't want to talk about Rhodey but because it's been almost two months since he was shot, two months since Bucky promised him a kiss.  

Bucky laughs.  "Yes, I did promise a kiss.  I promised a little more than a kiss actually, but.."  Bucky leans in, kissing Tony gently.  Tony's arms go around Bucky, holding him up so that one inch of height difference wasn't really noticeable.  The kiss didn't deepened, they were both happy to leave it light.  When they were done, they didn't let go of each other.  "How as that?"  Bucky asked, smiling. He felt light, despite everything.  They'd stopped this war and they had each other.  Things were going their way.  

"That was excellent.  We should definitely have an encour.  At some other time though, we've got to tell our people the good news."  Bucky nodded back.  The people and the Iron would come first.  After things had been fixed, then it would be Bucky and Tony's time.

"And what about the Skrulls?  We still have to deal with them."  He hated to bring it up, especially in a time of victory, but it was something that needed dealt with and it needed dealt with as soon as possible.  It was an unfortunate truth of their world.  If they didn't deal with it, it would fester and grow.  

"After."  Tony assured Bucky.  "After we tell them the good news, we'll figure out what to do with the Skrulls.  Besides, Reed is coming."

"I thought he was for Rhodey?"   Bucky asked. 

"He is."  Tony confirmed with a little nod.  "But he's a super-genius, like me.  We can do double duty.  Fix Rhodey, figure out the Skrulls.  Then it's me and you time.  I recommend a vacation."  Bucky laughed at that.  Even if everything went their way from now on (which it probably wouldn't) there wouldn't be vacations for a good long while.  It just...wasn't going to happen.  Not for them.

"Sure, where do you want to go?"

"Mhh, some place warm."

"No tech?"

"Don't torture me, James.  There's gotta be tech.  Maybe we'll fly away on a spaceship."

"Space?  As a vacation?"

"Perfect get away. Just you and me and an alien."

"We're not inviting an alien."

"Even if it's a sexy alien?"

"Especially if it's a sexy alien."  They went from important politics to this.  Bucky's life was strange.  "Back on topic: Skrulls."

Tony suddenly made a face, "Okay, I agree on sexy aliens."  Bucky balks, understanding Tony's thought process.  "If only the other you hadn't been evil."

"How do you know they weren't evil?"

"They were trying to sneak in."  Tony shrugs.  

"Oh, because I'm not a sneaky person."

"Not like that."  Tony easily agrees.  "You're a different kind of sneaky, a nicer king of sneaky."

"We're getting off topic."  Something that was happening with increasing frequency. 

"A little bit."  TOny admits.  "Back on topic Skrulls.  And vacation.  Not together."

"Please not together." Bucky murmured.  "You really think Reed can help us with the Skull problem?"

"There's bound to be some differences in our physiology."  Tony explained.  "That's why they revert back to Vulcans when they're dead."

"Vulcans?"  Bucky queried, confused.

"You've never seen Star Trek?"  How had that...well, okay, they'd been on the run.  Or not on the run, but on the down low.  Making sure Bucky had seen pop culture hadn't been a top priority.  "But you got my Star Wars references."

"Star Wars was very popular in HYDRA.  Especially Darth Vader." 

"Huh.  No Mirror World fans in HYDRA?"

"Mirror World fans?"

"Yeah, in Star Trek there was this episode where Kirk ended up in a mirror universe.  Spock had a beard.  It actually rather suited him..."

"You like a little facial hair?"  Bucky asked, somewhat amused.  Between the two of them, Bucky wasn't the one sporting a Van Dyne.

Tony patted Bucky's cheek.  "I don't mind it.  I'm not going to complain if you're kissing me, beard or no."

"I could pull of a beard."  BUcky muses.  "Certainly better than Steve could."  Tony blanches.  

"That's...why did you give me that mental image?"  It's not a pretty one.  He wants to bleach his mind.

Bucky chuckles.  "Everything up to this moment was so worth it."

"Yeah, yeah, revel in my pain." 

"I will."  Bucky replies earnestly.  

"Stop distracting me."  Tony grouses, realizing they've once again veered wildly off topic.

"But it's so much fun."  Bucky insists.  "Also, it's not like we're going to get attacked right now."  Something explodes in the distance and both of them are instantly on alert.  Tony's faceplate reforms.

"You just had to tempt fate, didn't you?"  Tony asks.  

Bucky sighs.  "Sorry.  Fly us down?"  Tony grabs Bucky and they're off.  It's vaguely familiar.  They do it enough these days that Bucky knows all the handholds.  There's a sort of comfort in doing it.  They know each other and how the other will react.  Tony drops Bucky in front of the building, flying in headfirst.  Bucky does perimeter.  Everyone already knows the drill, they used to get attacked by the Blue all the time.

"So?"  Bucky asks through the coms.  "What is it?"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say Steve."  

There's so much wrong with that sentence, yet Tony sounds amused.  "What makes you say that?"  Bucky asks.

"DNA.  But I also know where Steve has been for the past sixty days.  So unless they're working on clones," and with how disastrous the Thor clone had been, no one was going within a hundred feet of any cloning projects, even ones to clones someone such as Captain America, "it looks like our friends the Skrulls have striked again."

"How many injured?"  

"None, that's the kicker.  This place wasn't abandoned." There's no such thing as an abandoned building in Iron, "but everyone was out of it for while."

That meant..."One of your reconstruction projects?"  

"Yes."  Tony had been quietly renovating some of the shabbier buildings in Iron.  It wasn't easy or cheap, especially considering their limited resources, but Tony would give anything for his people.  "A week earlier, this would've been a devastating attack."

"It's still pretty miserable."  Bucky can't help but point out.  These people are out of a home.

"We'll just rebuild the rest.  It'll be good PR for us."  And Bucky realizes that Tony is giddy.  This is what was missing from Tony since Steve died.  And it's so invigorating to see it back in him.  The man is practically bouncing in excitement.  And it's not because they're suddenly rich or that they have sudden peace.  No, despite the agreement there's still going to be tension, but they have hope.  For the longest time, The Iron didn't have hope.  They were just dragging on, just existing, because they had to.  And Tony had been doing that for longer than most of this people.  Now they're free of that cloud of depression.  It's heartening to see.  Bucky wants to see more of it.  He liked what he saw of Tony before this, but this is a whole other Tony that he adores.  This is the Tony that Steve had spoken about so fondly.  

"Yes, because we need such good PR."  Bucky replies.  "Come on, don't you have an announcement to make, Mr. President?"

"First we need to get these people into new homes."  Tony insists.  "We can't just leave them homeless."

"Where they've been staying the last couple of days should work, shouldn't it?"

"No, it's rubble."

"But you just said-"

"While under construction, most families are allowed to live in the structure for 8 hours every night.  The attack wasn't during those eight hours."

"But surely some of them are bunking down elsewhere?  Eight hours at night doesn't fit everyone's schedule."

"I know, but it's the only way the the crews could work around them.  And most people in the building are also building it..."

"Why weren't the workers hurt?"

"Huh?"

Bucky thinks it over.  "The workers were working, right?  When the building blew up.  But why were none of them hurt?  A collapsing building is bound to hurt at least one person working on it."

Tony frowns.  "That's a good question.  I don't have an answer to it."

"I do!"  One of the workers, who'd been listening in pipes up.  "We were all told to clear the area."

"Who told you to clear the area?"  Bucky asks.

"Vice President Jen."  The same lady offers.  "She said it was about to get real dangerous and that we shouldn't be there.  We assumed she meant an attack and well..." she looked over at the demolished building, "looks like she was right."  

Bucky and Tony exchanged glances.  Something was going on here and they needed to get to the bottom of it and fast.  They were lucky nothing had gone wrong this time, but next time they weren't e necessarily going to be so lucky.  Plus Jen was somehow mixed up in all this.  It could just be coincidence, but neither of them believed in such things. 

"We'll see about getting funds allocated to help rebuild again."  TOny said, voice projected by his suit's speakers.  "In the meantime, does everyone have a place to stay?"  Most people nodded, but there was a few heads the shook no.   Bucky noted them and called them up front.  Some were a bit hesitant to go for a lot of reasons, but between Bucky and Tony they managed to coax them forward anyways.  Most of them were squared away by friends and family and in the end Bucky and Tony were left with a group of ten that wouldn't fit anywhere. 

"Well, the capitol building is just about as cramped as anywhere else."  Tony admits sheepishly, "but at least it's a roof over your head while your apartment is getting fixed."  Most of them look pretty excited to see the inside of the capital.  SInce the Iron had been at war so long, it's pretty rare that the Capital building open up to the general public.  On a good year, there's about one day- the day of the Schism that the Capitol is open to all.  Both sides use it as a day of mourning and respect.  Neither side would ever dare attack on that day.  It's not like Christmas or easter, those days are still fair game.

All ten of them get bundled off to the Capitol building.  Tony and Bucky give their room up for them.  It's not meant to hold ten people, but it will.  Every room is pretty much filled to capacity, why not that one as well.   Then Bucky and Tony have their own retreat, back to the top of the Iron dome.  

"So...Jen."  Neither want to consider the option that she might be a Skrull.  

"If she's a Skrull, then who else could be?"

Bucky knows the answer- and it's not a pretty one.  But he has an idea.  "You know how the Skrull showed up as me on your scanners?"  Tony nods, still vaguely perturbed by the event.

"How long do you keep those logs?"  Bucky asked.  

Tony thought about it.  "A month, for the most part.  But the newer ones just overwrite the older ones, so I might be able to collect data from older feeds if I need to."  It's not perfect, but it's the best they got.

"Look for duplicates."

Tony catches onto Bucky's thought process fast.  Damn, he can't believe he didn't think of that sooner.  There were two Bucky's in the room, everything said there were two Bucky's in the room.  So that meant all the other Skrull people should have the same anomaly.  

"What if they killed their Skrull, like we did?"  Tony asks. "Why didn't they report it to you, then?"  Bucky returns.

"Same reason we didn't tell anyone."  And their reasons were good and legitimate, but it was pretty easy to see why someone else might do the same thing.  If there was anyone else who knew, they wouldn't tell for fear they'd be telling another Skrull.  

Bucky nods, "We'll round all of them up anyways.  Even if only one of them is a Skrull, it's best to have them separated from the general populace for safety."

"But we don't know if there's any in the general populace.  There could be sleeper agents, ready to strike when our backs are turned.  Maybe they have a way of communicating with each other, so they can tell the others when their covered has been compromised."  Tony's first priority is his people, he simply doesn't have the heart to put them in any more danger then he has to.  They only recently overcame the threat of the Blue, putting the Skrulls on them so soon...it just screams bad idea to him.

Bucky knows Tony's reasoning is sound, but it sits ill with him to just leave the Skrulls wherever they are.  "Let's see if we can ID any Skrulls first, Tony.  And if we can't-then there's nothing we can do.  And if we can, we'll deal with it."  Since Tony is sure that Reed will have some way to separate Skrull from human.  Which means they'll be hoping to high heavens that Reed isn't a Skrull.  

"Very well."  It's an acceptable compromise, since neither of them know if they'll be able to ID any Skrulls at all.  All they have are fractured bioscans going back years, not necessarily going to be enough.  "I have everything from that night though.  What are the chances that all the Skrulls all came on the same day?"  Tony hoped they were.  That'd make their job very easy.  Unless there were Skrulls among his people, because he didn't have bio scanners everywhere in the city, that was unfortunately far too expensive and would waste more resources then it would save.  The Capitol had a lot of bio scanners because it handled a lot of classified information.  "I'll start going over all the blessings that I can save.  I'll make a list.  You should prepare for Reed's arrival."  

Bucky nods, accepting his mission easily.  "Should I give him your lab space?"

"Yes, please do.  And make sure he can access everything about Rhodey's injuries." TOny would always have backups, but in the spirit of cooperation, he'd give Reed everything he had.  

"As you wish, Mr. President."

"None of that, Bucky.  It's just Tony."  

"But I like Mr. President."  Bucky responds, slipping into the shadows and far away.  Tony looks out over the Iron.  This is a perfect vantage point for everything.  And the future isn't set in stone, but things are getting better.  


	9. Chapter 9

Reed's arrival is exactly on time.  Tony is honestly surprised the man remembered at all, he is prone to forgetting things, with how wrapped up he gets in projects.  Tony understands, he used to be the same way.  Perhaps war has changed them all more than he knows.  He shakes hand with Reed, but passes him off to Bucky for the official tour.  As much as he'd like to do it himself, there are more pressing issues within the Iron that Tony needs to deal with.  Such as three different rebuilding projects and one relocation project.  The Iron doesn't know about the peace treaty with the Blue yet.  It wasn't a decision made lightly, but Bucky had pointed out how several key battles were manipulated...oddly.  Every time the Iron and Blue had come close to peace, something would happen stalling negotiations.  Bucky had bet that it was Skrulls and Tony was inclined to agree with him.  Which meant that despite there'd been peace brokered, Tony couldn't tell anyone.  And he had to hope that if there were any Skrulls on Steve's side, they couldn't get in contact with those on his side.  Steve wouldn't have hid the new peace, Tony was sure of that.  

Reed looked around his lab, impressed.  "I didn't realize the Iron had so many resources available to them."

"We did originally."  Bucky explained, leaning against the door jam.  "A lot of resources and nothing to do with them.  Then we had a population boom, and now pretty much everything is rationed.  Tony has made sure to allocate whatever you should need though."  But even Tony couldn't predict the future with certainty.  "If you need anything else, be sure to let us know.  We can't promise we'll be able to get our hands on it, but we'll try."  Especially if it was something that a citizen of Iron needed more.  

"I think this'll do.  I've worked with far less in recent years."  Rationing in the Blue had been worse, Bucky had heard the rumors.  He's pretty sure that's his confirmation right there.  "And this is all very high tech."

"Most of the Iron is.  It's easier on Tony that way."   Tony can interface with most of his cities any time he wants.  It's a bit...odd to see, but has a lot of benefits.  Diagnostics have never been so easy.  And it puts people at ease knowing that most issues can be solved by their leader closing his eyes. By no means is it perfect, but it does a good enough job for everyone.  "You are sure you have what you need, Reed?" 

"Yeah.  Going to stand over my shoulder and watch?" The offer is tempting, but Bucky really can't stay.  Besides, as Reed had noted, most of this place was technology.  Tony would know the instant Reed tried anything funny.  

"No. Maybe later.  In the meantime, let either Tony or I know if you have anything.  It's really important to him that Rhodey get back on his feet." Bucky dismisses himself, heading back to Tony's office.  Tony isn't there, so Bucky heads out again.  He doesn't quite have a destination in mind, so he decides to do patrols.  There are heroes who are officially hired to do patrols., but it often gives Bucky a sense of peace to do it himself.  And they don't bother him, just let him do his own thing.  It's quite relaxing.  

He stops by the apartment building that was blown up earlier.  If one looked at it now, they'd have no idea that a week ago it'd just been rubble.  Iron's people move fast.  Bucky knows now that peace has been brokered, unification is on it's way.  And he honestly doesn't know how to feel about that.  Reunification is a good thing, but he's grown quite fond of the Iron.  The familiar whine of repulsors makes him look up just in time to see Tony land.  Bucky offers him a grin.  "Come here often?"  Tony asks, armor sinking into his skin leaving him in a t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of ragged tennis shoes. 

"Yeah.  I like the view."  Bucky returns.  "So?"

The question causes Tony to sag.  "I confirmed three.  And I don't think the Skrulls kill whoever they replace, which is a good thing.  We might be able to get everyone back.  Who knows how much they'll remember, but..." It's something.  And even if they don't remember the Iron's struggles or don't want to come back to the Iron, just having them alive will be enough.  Everyone has lost to much to this damn war already, they don't need to be losing good people.

"Is it safe to talk about specific names here?"  Bucky knows Tony can control pretty much the whole city, it doesn't mean Tony frequently does.  Every Iron city is mostly self-sufficient, the code is somewhat alive as it's been based on Tony's own brain.  None of them are that alive (that Bucky knows of) but there's an element of self-reparation to them.  

Tony nods.  "Yeah, Resilient Alpha has more important things to pay attention to the little old us.  So far I know it's Jen, Jessica, and...T'Challa."  

"But T'Challa-"  Bucky cuts himself off.  T'Challa doesn't have the shield anymore, Steve does.  Sometimes he forgets things like that.  "Okay, when was he replaced?"

"Not that long ago."

"How's the investigation into our shooter going?" 

"Well, I was going to put Jen on the case but..."  

"Yeah, I can see how that wouldn't work anymore.  Anything else being done?"  Bucky had wanted to be the one in charge of it, but Tony had shot the idea down.  He'd had more important places for Bucky to be at the time, like being beside Tony.  It was frustrating, sometimes, but Bucky was kind of glad Jen hadn't been left with Tony.  Who knows what the Skrull would've done to him.

“Not currently.”

“Let’s fix that.”

 

“Bucky!”  Reed greeted him enthusiastically, beckoning him into the lab.  “Just the man I wanted to see.”

Bucky enters the lab, going to stand by Reed.  Tony is currently in conference with several known Skrulls, pretending he doesn’t know them.  It’s not a situation Bucky is happy about, but Tony told him to check on Reed, so he is. “Good news, I take it?”    It’d be nice to have Rhodey back on his feet- it’d certainly improve Tony’s mood.  

“Yes, very good news.  Biology isn’t my speciality, I admit, but I’ve been working with Rhodey’s mind extensively.  Fixing his coma shouldn’t be to hard as long as we can stimulate his mind to regrow.  Right now it’s just repairing the synapses that aren’t broken.  Fair enough, but not good enough.  The contusions his head suffered damaged more than the old synapsis can account for.”

“You figured out a way to regrow the damaged tissue?”

“Not I, but Tony.”

“I wasn’t aware Tony was actively working on this project.”  Tony kept his distance from Rhodey and the hospitals, for reasons that Bucky wasn’t privy too.  

“He’s not.”  Reed agrees amicably, “but he does have an extremely advanced healing factor.  Or did he expect us to unaware that Extremis is working?”

“It’s capabilities are currently very  limited.”

“And why is that?”

“He’s stretched far too thing between all of Iron.  He made the computers that govern the smaller ways of the Iron lifestyle.  That much of a burden on him, combined with the fact he’s not the best at upkeep- even Extremis can’t compensate for all of that.  It tries, but ultimately fails.”

“But you could get me a sample of it?”

“No.”  Bucky shakes his head.  “Tony's never agree to part with even a small sample.  Especially since you’d be putting Rhodey’s life at stake.”

“I could make it safe for Rhodey, just like Tony made it safe for himself.”  Reed reasons.

Bucky doesn't know whether to believe him or not, but it’s also not really his choice.  “Talk to Tony.  If he gives you a sample, so be it.  If he doesn’t, look for alternate venues.”

 

Bucky isn’t there when Tony finally hands over the vial of his blood to Reed, but he is there first hand to see the results.  At first it isn’t much- it is two weeks after Reed treats Rhodey that there are signs of his physical improvement.  He’s off the respirator for the first time in nine years.  His EKG looks more like a live man then a dead man’s mind.  

And Bucky manages to be the only one in the room when Rhodey does what so many had considered impossible for the longest time- he opens his eyes.  Bucky darts to the man’s side immediately, pressing the button to call for a nurse.  But even him standing over Rhodey has an effect on the other- his pupils dilate.  They've managed a miracle and Tony gets his best friend back.  And Rhodey's eyes are silver when he accesses his own Extremis.  He's a lot less shy about it then Tony ever was.  

 

“In the end, they had contact with each other.”  Tony explains.  “They knew we knew about them, but they didn’t know how much we knew.  Nor did they know if we’d caught them all.”

“Did they not know who everyone else was?”

“They knew the Queen and that was it.  They're unwaveringly loyal to their queen.”

“Okay, what do we do now?”

“Kill them all.”  Tony replied, voice flat.   

Bucky nods, “Very well.  How?”

“War.  Between the Iron and the Blue.”

“But you and Steve just came to-”

Tony cuts him off, “Steve will understand.  Especially now that we have a working Skrull detector.”

“And if the Blues have any Skrulls.”  Tony’s face falls and Bucky- he doesn’t know what to think.  He’s not happy that the Blues have been infiltrated too, but at least it’s not just the Iron.  It’s a terrible way to think, but that’s how he does.  “How many?”

Tony shakes his head, “Reed doesn't know.  He just let me know his wife is one, but thankfully his son isn’t.”  

Bucky doesn't know Sue all that well.  He does know Franklin though.  The Richard’s family is one of the many split between the Iron and Blue.  Reed was originally on Tony’s side, with Sue opposing him.  But after Steve died, Reed joined Peter and Sue, citing his son as the reason.  Franklin turned 18 and turned his back on the Blue, joining Tony’s fraction as one of the many elite superheroes that protected the Iron’s borders and interests.  

“How are we going to make sure we get all the Skrulls, then?”

“There’s a hive ship.  In the fissure created by the Schism.  And they’ll protect it.”

“What makes you think they won’t play the long game?”

“They can’t.  Once the ship and the Queen are gone, they’ll die.  It’s that simple.”

“Whenever you say it’s simple, I automatically assume it isn’t.”

“You’d be bored otherwise.”

“Probably true.”  Bucky admitted.  


	10. To Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> War is declared. But not against the Blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Amazing art in this chapter done by [lesbianhawkeye.](http://lesbianhawkeye.tumblr.com/post/151580970816/come-on-tony-lets-get-you-home-this-is-my) Please check them out!

It’s the day they’re going to declare war on the Blue.  Bucky and Tony are both surprisingly calm about the whole thing.  Rhodey is not nearly as calm as they are, but he’s getting there.  It helps that he’s been upgrading the War Machine armor that Tony just happened to have on hand.  When the time comes, the three of them will stand united.  It’ll be the first time Bucky had fought with Rhodes, but he’s been fighting beside Tony the whole time that he’s sure that while it won’t be as easy as breathing, there will be familiar elements to it.  They’re used to filling in the moments when Tony can’t quite watch his back, of course they’re going to be familiar with each others way of fighting.  The battle won't start for a while longer, so in the meantime Bucky is reading.  It's not how many of the others are preparing for battle and he knows it, but this isn't a time to get nervous.  Being nervous means more fuck ups, more deaths.  And Bucky doesn't need any more of those.  This is what they've been preparing for.  This is the battle that will say whether the whole Civil War was worth it, or if they spent nearly 20 years fighting each other for no good reason.  As it stands, even if they defeat the Skrulls, reunification isn't going to be easy.  Not that anyone particularly thought 'oh, bringing two warring factions back together- that'll be easy', but there was an element of expectedness to it.  Even before Ground Zero, before some many heroes had been lost, there'd been an expected end to the whole Civil War.  Bucky knows that.  

"Ready?"  Tony asks, alighting in front of him.  To his right is Rhodey in the War Machine armor.  He looks right there, like he fits perfectly.  Bucky has never seen anyone look quite so natural at leading and following, but Rhodey has been full of surprises, what was one more?

Bucky nods.  "Am I going Air Iron Man or Air War Machine?"  He doesn't suppose anything.  Right now he'll need to be in the hands of the one who'll make him more efficient.  This battle will be bloody, so right now it's about efficiency.  Not about past, present, or future.

"Air Rhodey." Tony answers, gesturing to War Machine.  "I hope you don't mind."

Bucky steps up to the armor, metal arm curling around in a familiar place and joins locking.  He knows how to do this.  War is where he's best suited anyways.  "No.  Are you planning to use me as a sniper?"

"Hope you don't mind."  Tony isn't doing it because he wants Bucky out of the front lines, it's because they're going to need a sniper with a good a shot as Bucky backing up the Iron.

Bucky shakes his head.  "Wherever you need me.  I know how important this battle is."

The battle is won in the end.  It's a bit of a surprise to all of them.  Though Bucky makes a mental note to yell at Tony.  What was the asshole thinking?  If it hadn't been for Rhodey's ingenuity, the man'd be dead at the bottom of the Middle with Steve and it would've solved nothing.  Oh, sure, the Skrull Queen (who was T'Challa of all people) would be dead, but so would have Steve and Tony.  Bucky doesn't see it, thankfully, but he hears enough of it through various com and telepathic channels. 

Bucky's metal arm comes down hard on Tony's shoulder when he sees his President next.  Tony grunts a bit under the weight, but offers Bucky a charming smile.  Bucky isn't fooled.  "Come on, Tony, let's get you home."

Tony laughs.  "Just you wait, home is about to get a lot bigger."

"What exactly do you have planned?"

"Great things."  Tony says vaguely.  "Great and marvelous things for the United States."

"We're calling it that again?"  Bucky asked warily.  Other countries have called the Iron that, but among themselves, they still thought of themselves as the Iron, not the US.

And Tony's smile seems all that more radiant.  "Yeah, as of right now the Iron and the Blue are no more.  Nearly dying did me and Steve a world of good when it came to negotiations."

Of course that's how the idiots would chose to do this.  "And who's in charge?"  Steve and Parker had been leading the Blue, Tony and Jen (who was now among the dead as a Skrull) leading the Iron.

"Me."  Tony answers, "But it's election year, that might change."

"Anyone joining the ballot?"  Bucky asked.  He couldn't imagine anyone wanted to lead a country who would have the friction the US would have.

"Quite a few,"  Tony answers, "and I'll be glad to be rid of it."

"You like being President, admit it."  Bucky can't quite manage teasing, though he tries.  

"No.  I didn't mind being the CEO of a company.  That was exhausting but fun.  Being the head of a country?  Not so fun.  I wish my successor all the luck."

"And that means I get more time to keep you for myself."

"My, what are you suggesting, Mr. Barnes?"

"Things we'll both well enjoy, I believe, Mr. President."

"Then count me in."  

"Oh, I certainly intend to."  The hardest is yet to come.  Tony might be retiring, but that doesn't mean their jobs are done.  But there's a weight lifted from both of them.  It's not just the end of the war or the fact they've mutually agreed to act on their attraction, but- the world doesn't seem so hopeless anymore.  Not when two warring states can make peace.  Not when families like the Parker's and Reed's can be reunited.  It tastes like victory.


End file.
